Gadsden County is the only predominantly African-American county in Florida. Gadsden County is home to two high schools - West Gadsden High School (merged from the former Chattahoochee High and Greensboro High) located on the western outskirts of Quincy near Greensboro, and East Gadsden High School (merged from the former James A. Shanks High and Havana Northside High) located on Hwy. 90 east of Quincy.

There were 15,867 households out of which 32.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.50% were married couples living together, 22.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.00% were non-families. 23.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.40% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 12.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,248, and the median income for a family was $36,238. Males had a median income of $27,159 versus $21,721 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,499. About 16.40% of families and 19.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.50% of those under age 18 and 16.90% of those age 65 or over.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, Democrats maintain a massive majority of registered voters in Gadsden County. As of September 30, 2015, the county has the second-highest percentage of registered Democrats of all counties in Florida (only in Liberty County do Democrats have a higher percentage of registered voters countywide). The last Republican to win a majority in the county was Richard Nixon in his landslide 1972 victory,[12] and Gadsden was the solitary Florida county to vote against Reagan in 1984.[13]

Gadsden County Voter Registration & Party Enrollment as of September 30, 2015[14]

Interstate 10 is the main west-to-east interstate highway in the county, and serves as the unofficial dividing line between northern and southern Gadsden County. It contains four interchanges within the county; CR 270A (Exit 166), SR 12 (Exit 174), SR 267 (Exit 181), and US 90 (Exit 192).

US 90 was the main west-to-east highway in the county prior to the construction of I-10 in the late 1960s. It runs from the Victory Bridge in Chatahoochee in the northwest, and then southeast through Gretna, Douglas City, and Quincy before finally leaving the county east of Midway into Leon County.

US 27 is the sole south-to-north U.S. highway running through the northeastern part of the county.